Freedom of choice is a fine thing, but it often comes at a cost. For Stuart Jones, a manufacturer of upholstered beds, headboards, chairs and footstools, a highly-bespoke offer often led to production inefficiencies and customer confusion. Paul Farley revisited the company’s facility in Rustington, West Sussex, to discover the company’s plans to consolidate and simplify its offer …
The summer has proved a busy affair for MD Alan Bennett, but the changes taking place at Stuart Jones have eroded none of his enthusiasm. Having returned from personal visits to the company’s top 20 stockists, Alan is fully set to take the business forward. “Everything’s coming together,” he says. “We’re ready to go to the next level!”
Stuart Jones has made significant progress over the last year, with new staff, branding and manufacturing processes paving the way for a product concept that promises a more refined, confident offer – yet one that retains the bulk of the creative freedom for which the company is renowned.
“I started by taking a long, hard look at the portfolio,” explains Alan. “We were consistently finding that although our customers loved the brand, many of them were easily confused by the offer. We were offering around 80 products, and 80 fabrics, from two books covering different pricing tiers. We found that the best sales came from those retailers who truly understood our concept – so we’ve done our best to simplify the offer.”
Although Alan insists that the move is more of a transition than a departure, the watchword is definitely “new” – a new brochure, PoS, website and price list will illustrate the offer, which will comprise a selection of around 50 models, a swatch of just 40 fabrics (around 23 of which are new), four modern wood finishes, and around six vibrant paint finishes.
Effectively, Stuart Jones’ core offer has been reduced by around 30-40%, creating a far more “joined up, mix-and-match approach”, while the ability to produce bespoke models to spec remains available.
According to Alan, the feedback from his latest road trip was extremely positive, confirming the company’s new direction, and prompting the introduction of a tiered approach to retailer fulfilment based on volume of throughput. “Astonishingly, the top 30 of our 600 or so clients produce 80% of our income,” he says. “And, in essence, they are all for the change.”
An evolution of product has been overseen by designer Nick Akhurst, a University of Brighton Product Design graduate who entered the role after designing structures for playgrounds.
“The plan was always for me to bring a modern touch to Stuart Jones, yet keep those fundamental traditional elements in place,” says Nick. “I’m looking at more adaptable – sometimes modular – designs that will allow us to appeal to a wider range of customer age groups.”
So, while Nick joins the company as its ‘playground’ is becoming smaller, he’s very much focused on maximising the appeal of every last bit of it. Nine new models, from art deco and country-style designs to more contemporary pieces, will be unveiled at the Bed Show, alongside existing favourites – in new finishes and colours, of course.
“We were consistently finding that although our customers loved the brand, many of them were easily confused by the offer”
Together with Alan and product manager Gemma Dahr, Nick has been instrumental in refining Stuart Jones’ fabric swatch, which, in an effort to streamline production, has been effectively halved.
Yet it’s a convincing colour story. A mix of textures, velvets and linens add depth to the colours available, which range from the established beiges and greys to fabric groups in duck egg blue, purple and red, as well as on-trend tartans.
“Beforehand, we had these fabrics over here,” says Gemma, pointing at one end of the swatch, then at the other, “and those colours over there. Give people too much choice, and they get confused – now we’re basing the offer on colour alone, it’s much simpler.”
Nick adds: “The swatch was missing those all-important bold accent colours.”
In some ways, the development of the swatch and various other colour options has been more significant than that of the product design.
“It’s difficult to design a bed that nobody’s seen before,” says Nick, “so all the designs are based on using different fabrics, and the beds in particular showcase the available colour mixes to great effect. It reinforces that it’s still our bespoke service that sets us apart from other bed suppliers.”
Accordingly, the models on display on Stuart Jones’ stand at this year’s Bed Show were quite a departure from the pastels that dominated last year. The bold new fabrics and paint colours were vivid without being garish, meaning stockists can be as brave as they wish when it comes to experimenting with new looks.
All of these developments are being supported by changes at the back end of the business, too. A lean manufacturing programme is now in place in Stuart Jones’ factory, alongside improved QC, packaging and throughput processes, and the facility itself will soon be bolstered by an extra 630 cubic metres of storage space.
Stuart Jones is also on the cusp of establishing a dedicated contract division. “There is huge scope in that area,” says Alan. “I’m aiming for contract work to comprise 20% of the business within a year, although retail will of course remain our core business.
“All of these changes are set to bring more balance to Stuart Jones, refining our business model and making us even more relevant to today’s consumer. If recent feedback is anything to go by, it won’t take retailers long to appreciate the benefits!”
This article was published in this year's Bed Show Preview Supplement, distributed with the September issue of Furniture News magazine.
